I'm Xiao Qiao! I live in the territories of Wu, with my Lord Zhou Yu. He's so cool. Him and I fight all the bad guys together. We make sure they don't ever come back!
“I was never okay…“ she responded with her head to the side, she was going to break into tears but, tried so hard to hold them back, it was like using chains against a monster, except Yue Hua was the monster. Finally able to look at the cheerful Wu maiden, she looked at her with weak, tired eyes. ”I see…“ she simply said, ”I never thought that you would use it in the end.“ she admitted with a weak smile.
“I’m glad that my mother’s blessing could be in use.” she added. Not many people knew about her past but, her family was famous for completing assassinations with a signature move.
What? Did I hear that right?
Xiaoqiao’s brows tilted down, giving the girl a confused stare as she tried to level out just what she was looking at. The woman looked awfully sad, as if she was in a never-ending trance of a despair that no one - or at least Xiaoqiao - could not grasp.
“Of course I did!” Her smile returned for a moment, glad to know that the woman was grateful. She really did seem sweet; it made her more curious about the strange demeanor and rather… uncomfortable aura she felt when she was around her. “I’m glad I found you,” she told the girl, taking a few steps to close the distance between them. Her hands reached out to grab the girl’s own as she spoke, “Can you tell me what was in that bottle?”
He almost let out a chuckle, watching her reaction with amusement twinkling in his eyes. She acted so young and playfully, and he marveled at her seemingly natural cheerfulness. It made him wish that he could be as carefree as the young lady, yet he knew that with his circumstances, he would never reach the same levels of freedom and confidence that she displayed. Even so, a part of him looked up to that amount of self-certainty she showed, admiring how at ease she seemed with herself. In his case, he could not say the same at all.
“I was wondering what made you come over here to Shu.” Suo glanced around their surroundings to determine where they were, his hand resting on his hip as the other casually scratched his neck. Once he had a good look, he glanced back at Xiaoqiao with a nod. “Of course I can help, my lady. I’m pretty sure I know where we are, so I can escort you back to your territory at once,” he stated pleasantly, having already mapped out their path in his head. “We wouldn’t want to keep your loved ones waiting any longer.”
"Yeah,” she tapped her chin with her index finger and tilted her head. Her smile stayed in tact, but her tone was a tad more awkward than before. “I got lost in the woods and kept going straight until I found a way out. I didn’t imagine I’d come this far…” She trailed off, suddenly wondering if it was that far away at all. The Kingdom’s were all relatively large, but their borders were most definitely not.
“Thank you so much!” She answered cheerily, nodding to his words. This new friend was sure helpful; she made a mental note to repay him with a cup of tea or something of the like.
“Wait,” she paused, halting her steps to turn and face her new-found friend again. “What about your loved ones? Won’t they miss you?”
“Ah… Lady Xiaoqiao, are you alright? You appear to be acting oddly—”
Clank. The sound of various items falling.
“Oh— oh dear!” Yuezi knelt down to help Xiaoqiao pick up the spilled items. Most of the items spilled were able to be salvaged, and some of them were still in mint condition— however, it was unfortunate for the broken pot. Yuezi wondered what Xiaoqiao was doing with all of those items? From what Yuezi examined, they looked like party favours. Was Xiaoqiao planning for one? Yuezi didn’t recall any up-coming party announcements from the kingdom…
From what Yuezi could also examine from Xiaoqiao’s surprised expression earlier, Yuezi guessed that Xiaoqiao didn’t mean to be recognised. Yuezi wouldn’t question it; it was Xiaoqiao’s business, and she trusted that Xiaoqiao wouldn’t be up to any treachery of the sort. “I’m sorry, Lady Xiaoqiao, if I’ve inconvenienced you in any way,” the young woman apologised to the brighter Qiao sister. “Is there anything I can do for you? Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.” Yuezi was more than glad to help in any way possible, especially since she believed to be the one who ruined whatever plans Xiaoqiao had.
Now what?
She bit down on her lip, focusing mostly on the shattered pot. It wasn’t the most expensive of the gifts, but it had a pretty design that she remembered Da Qiao eyeing the last time they went out to the market together. Xiaoqiao could only hope that those around them weren’t already gossiping–as it seemed the citizens tended to do.
It wasn’t the girl’s fault, she knew that. Accidents happen; this particular accident just happened to be highly unfortunate for the younger Qiao. Not only did her little surprise go out the window, but she couldn’t even cover it up due to her now lack of a bag. Sighing deeply, she replaced her frown with a small smile as she turned back around to face one of the many officers of Wu.
“It’s okay.”
Glancing back toward the scattered items, she shrugged her shoulders. “My Sis’ birthday is coming up, so I wanted to surprise her with all these things.”
It wasn’t necessarily ruined, because she knew her sister well enough that she didn’t have to be surprised to express her gratitude. It was just a little something extra, if anything, and Xiaoqiao couldn’t wait to see the look on the elder sibling’s face. Oh well.
“Can you help me carry this back?” She asked, then bent down to gather all she could. She picked up the dress first, then put the hair brushes and paint brushes on top of it. The only things left to carry were the herbs and candles. She paid no mind to the broken item anymore, because there was no use for it now. She couldn’t give that as a gift, that’d be so unfair!
"My lady..." The young woman bit her lip as her eyes strained in fear for the young girl in distress, attempting to place her delicate hands atop the doll's smaller shoulders, hoping to awaken her in some way. "My lady, please wake up...!"
My muse is thrashing and screaming in their sleep. How does your muse react?
“–Nooooo! NO! NO!”
They were grabbing her so ferociously, like she wasn’t a human but an animal. Tears were streaming down her face as she thrashed at them, hoping they would lose their grip but these shadows seemed much stronger than she was.
One grabbed at her shoulders, shaking her roughly. “My lady,” it said, with a mouth but no nose or eyes, a completely irrelevant creature to the ones she knew. She kicked at it, her cries loud over the shadow but it seemed unrelenting and merciless.
These shadows seemed to morph into a more human-like form, it’s distorted voice recreating itself into someone else’s, it said–
“My lady, please wake up!”
Her eyes opened and her body jolted upward. She was covered in a cold sweat, with tears dotting at her eyes as the shock of what happened processed through her. A nightmare, she realized, I was having a nightmare.
“H-Hu-” Hiccup. Had she really been outwardly expressing her anguish in the dream? The tears fell down her cheeks, but she was still in a bit of shock. Her head turned to the maiden that woke her up, noticing she didn’t recognize the face. She must have fallen asleep while trying to get back home.
She said nothing, instead pulling her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them to hold her legs there. Her body was shaking; she needed a moment to cool off. Hiccup.
Sky blue hues directed in the doll-like visage bathed in sunshine, slippered inching their way closer as a drawn sigh escaped her lips.
“I wouldn’t think of it, child.” Fingers threaded into her locks of dirty blonde, terribly annoyed by the scorching heat.
“I seem to have lost my way, is all."
–Child?!
"I'm not a child,” she insisted, feeling the need to correct anyone who thought such things. She was just as capable as anyone in this world, and could stand on her own without the aid of a single person. A child couldn’t do that.
At the woman’s next words, her annoyance slipped away from her, and it was decided that she’d prove her deceleration rather than let the woman challenge it (if she planned on doing so, anyway). “Are you a traveler? If you tell me where you’re going, I’ll help you on your way!”
The warmth from the young Qiao has worn off, the inside of Yue Hua was cold once again, and so did the hatred for Wu. It was like a dream when she met the young Qiao, though she didn’t show much emotion, her inside visage was full of happiness but, of course she didn’t want to show that to her enemy. The golden leaves of the trees were falling, showing that it was time for summer to go to sleep. Her eyes watched as the leaves down, it was like that day of when her hope was lost.
Hey, wasn’t that the girl that gave her the medicine?
Although she was on the enemy side, she still helped out (even when Xiaoqiao assured her that she was a-okay), so that made her a good egg in her book. She made her way over to the woman, moving fast enough to catch up with the girl, but nothing more than that. She was worn out from battle, but still very able to fight if anyone were to ask.
“Heeeey!” She called, waving one of her fans in the woman’s direction. When she noticed she got the girl’s attention, she was almost surprised at the cold demeanor that was given to her. In their first meeting, the woman didn’t so much as give her a smile; it was fine at the time, Xiaoqiao was used to the cold-hard stare of a soldier. This time… it felt different–like her presence was unwelcome.
“Are you okay? . . I wanted to thank you again for that stuff you gave me; it came in handy when a Wu soldier got hurt really bad.” He said that it soothed the pain. She had to know what it was, so she could make some too and help around the medical tents.
